"Yeah, that’s just because I’m always my worst critic. I’m never completely happy with what I do, but then the best musicians are always like that. There’s always someone else to inspire you, someone who’s better at certain things than you are. And it’s important to seek that out, to constantly strive to get better."

How do you go about that?

"I listen to everything. Even with music that I don’t like I’ll sit there and try and work out where the band’s heads are at. It’s a vital part of being a musician as far as I’m concerned, understanding where different things come from and how they work. You have to listen to lots of different music to be a rounded player and if you’re dedicated to it, you’ll take something away from everything, whether it’s your particular genre or not.

"It’s important for young players to realise that. It’s too easy to just listen to what you think is cool, whether that’s metal or whatever. But the best players in my experience always have an appreciation that’s much wider than the music they might be known for."

That’s certainly a description that can be applied to you...

"I hope so. Although I’m known for being a metal player, when you look at the bands that I’ve played with - Slipknot, Murderdolls, Korn, Rob Zombie, Ministry, the Roadrunner United project and so on - there’s a big variation in approach with each band. Hopefully the fans pick up on that and realise that’s the result of being open minded when I was growing up."